Whale stuck in fishing gear in a Quebec waterway will die if it isn't freed from the 'lethal entanglement'

Capitaine Crochet whale stuck in fishing gear will die if it isn't freed

A female fin whale stuck in a crab trap in the St. Lawrence River will die if the fishing gear isn’t removed, rescuers said Wednesday as they tried to attach a line of buoys to the cage in a bid to lift it off the whale’s head.

A whale-watching captain in the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park first noticed the tangled whale last week. Park officials say she may have been suffering for weeks — there are cuts on her mouth and tail.

“It is a lethal entanglement if it’s left there, that’s for sure,” said Mackie Greene of the Campobello Whale Rescue Team, who travelled from the Bay of Fundy to help.

“It might be all summer and a slow agonizing death … but [the cage] will eventually kill this animal,” added the New Brunswick resident, who spoke with the National Post from a zodiac boat in the midst of rescue efforts.

Whale watching is a popular tourist draw and every store, motel and building in nearby Tadoussac, Que., sports a picture of a whale, said Mr. Greene.

Locals have known the 20-metre mammal for almost 20 years. Whale-watching boat captains call her Capitaine Crochet, or Captain Hook, because of her hook-shaped dorsal fin.

“This is one of their special whales,” he said. “Everybody in the town knows this whale by name.”

Since Monday, Mr. Greene and his team have been trying to get close enough to her to hook the trap and attach a 100-foot line with buoys and a transmitter. Then, they may be able to pull it off her.

But the would-be rescuer isn’t too hopeful.

“We all figure this whale’s going to die anyway,” he said. “It’s a hard way to look at it but anything we do, we can’t hurt that whale.”